Greyhound service temporarily suspended in Ocala

[Photo courtesy Greyhound Bus Lines]

Greyhound Bus Lines is not currently serving Ocala as a destination and the next closest locations are in Hawthorne and Gainesville, both more than 25 miles away.

An email to the Greyhound corporate media contact yielded a statement from a spokesperson with FlixBus, a global mobility provider. FLIX SE purchased Greyhound in 2021.

“We are in the process of arranging for a new location in Ocala to pick up and drop off passengers—and we look forward to resuming service in the area as soon as possible. Our goal is to find the best possible solution for our passengers—a location that is safe, comfortable, accessible, and welcoming to Ocala residents and visitors alike,” the emailed statement read.

“Our partnerships with two local businesses that were allowing us to utilize their parking lots for curbside pickups and departures ended abruptly, leaving us without an adequate location for our buses to stop. We are working as quickly as possible to identify a new location so we can resume service to the area,” the statement noted.

The interruption in Greyhound long-distance bus service to Marion County, which started about two weeks ago, will hit homeless people trying to get their lives on track especially hard.

The city of Ocala and Marion County Joint Office of Homelessness Prevention, a combined effort of city and county employees, has helped homeless people return to their families with the Ticket Home program using Greyhound. The divergence program over the previous fiscal year provided 52 bus passes to homeless persons, according to online records.

Florida Department of Health online data indicates the estimated number of homeless persons in Marion County in 2023 was 454.

The Ticket Home program provided a Greyhound pass for people meeting the HUD definition of homeless and the individual “cannot be on probation in this county or have pending court dates,” according to Ashley Dobbs, the city of Ocala’s Office of Strategic Engagement Marketing and Communications Coordinator.

Dobbs wrote in part in an email that participants in the program must have a “verifiable contact in the location they are going where the client will be housed” and “only one ticket will be purchased for any client.”

“If the person returns, the program will not be offered again,” Dobbs wrote in part.

Karla Greenway, CEO of Interfaith Emergency Services, an Ocala outreach to persons and families in crisis, said the lack of long-distance bus service is “going to be very problematic for those of us who work with the homeless population here.”

“We have two prisons, a re-entry facility and a substance abuse rehabilitation facility in our county. We have many people who find themselves released into our county who have no housing but do have connections and support in other counties in and out of Florida. Now they will be stranded here,” Greenway wrote in an email.

“The (Ticket Home) program in partnership with Interfaith and other agencies was doing a good job moving these individuals back to their home counties. Without bus or train service, that program is dead in the water. This community is going to see the homeless population here grow significantly over the next few months,” she stated.

The bus line’s destination change comes on the heels of the signing of a state law that also affects the homeless.

In March, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1365, which is meant to “ensure that homeless individuals receive the mental health and drug addiction services they need while residing in a designated location off our public streets, prioritizing public safety,” according to flgov.org

The legislation includes wording that homeless people “are prohibited from camping on city streets, sidewalks, and parks—and instead placed in temporary shelters monitored by law enforcement agencies” and requires shelters to have substance and mental health treatment available. The legislation also directs that when shelters are full a state agency shall oversee setting up of safe and sanitary temporary campsites.

The recent developments will likely rekindle discussion about needing a low barrier shelter locally, which would admit people without identification, no income and modified or no background check.

Grace Marketplace in Gainesville is a low barrier shelter with housing programs and a computer lab for client use. The nonprofit outreach’s website boasts a 40% “reduction in people living on the streets” since 2014.

Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano said he will be looking for ways to handle the Ticket Home program in view of the recent bus destination change. He also feels “something needs to be done” as far as readily available and accessible shelters for the homeless.

“We also need to find a way to counsel the homeless on how to get help,” he added.

The local Continuum of Care includes IES; CareerSource Citrus, Levy, Marion, the Salvation Army and a host of governmental and nonprofit help agencies.

Ocala City councilman Jim Hilty Sr. said he feels there is a need for accessible shelter and that a low barrier option should be explored. He pointed to ongoing developments at Saving Mercy in Ocala.

Saving Mercy, located on State Road 40 adjacent to Interstate 75, provides “limited shelter, transitional housing, affordable units, food, hygiene product, case management and more,” according to savingmercy.org

A 54-unit development of supportive special needs housing is underway at the outreach.

Meanwhile, Amber Ponce, IES engagement center manager, who works with the homeless, said the passing of HB 1365 and unavailability of the Ticket Home program has “raised a lot of questions and doubts toward the future for the homeless community of Ocala.”

“(This) has left the homeless community feeling hopeless with nowhere to turn. This is why Ocala needs a low barrier shelter—somewhere that allows our chronically homeless to have a safe space to sleep where they aren’t subjected to run-ins with the law or being kicked out due to not meaning unrealistic standards set by the shelter.”